Modern computing systems can generate enough heat to damage their own components. A thermosiphon can keep computers from overheating by absorbing heat from one location and dissipating it at another. Thermosiphons use a two-phase working fluid—a fluid that will be in either the gas or liquid phases during operation—to operate without moving parts. The liquid phase of the two-phase working fluid evaporates as it absorbs heat; the gas phase of the two-phase working fluid diffuses to and thereby heats a colder region. In a thermosiphon, the gas phase of the two-phase working fluid condenses on and thereby heats cold thermosiphon walls (which, in turn, heat the surrounding environment), and the recondensed two-phase working fluid completes the cycle by flowing back to the hot end of the thermosiphon. But while the concept is simple, the fluid flow in thermal management systems on the scale of data centers is complicated.
As such, a method to improve the heat transfer characteristics of a two-phase working fluid would be of great benefit in the manufacture of thermal management systems.